title: Structural elucidation and spectral characterizations of Co3O4 nanoflakes.
abstract: A facile solvothermal process is successfully developed to prepare F-center cubic Co3O4 nanoflakes in ethylene-glycol-water solvent. Cobalt acetate [Co(Ac)2·4H2O] is directly used as precursor and ethylene glycol performs a reducer and modifying agent in the system. The as obtained products were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, UV-Vis-DRS, SEM, EDAX, XPS and HR-TEM. XRD studies indicate that the nanoflakes have the same crystal structure found in cubic form of Co3O4. The lattice parameter, X-ray density and the specific area of nanoflakes were also estimated from XRD pattern. The various functional groups present in Co3O4 nanoflakes were identified by FTIR analysis. The band gap energy of Co3O4 nanoflakes was calculated from UV-Vis-DRS spectral studies. SEM analyses ascertain that Co3O4 nanocrystals are nanoflakes in nature and the particle size in SEM is exactly consistent with XRD results. The elemental composition was determined using the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was performed at several points in the region and averaged to obtain the representative results. The atomic composition of the Co3O4 was detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The nanoscale structures were observed using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, St. Xavier's College, Palayamkottai, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaviyarasu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raja
authors.forename: Prem Anand
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Devarajan
mesh_terms: D003035:Cobalt / Q000737:chemistry*; D019855:Ethylene Glycol / Q000737:chemistry; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D033362:Powder Diffraction; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides; D014867:Water; D003035:Cobalt; D019855:Ethylene Glycol; C060728:cobalt oxide
keywords: DRS; FTIR; Nanoflakes; Nanoparticles; XPS; XRD